Investors have two basic options. They can concentrate their portfolios – in, say, the S&P 500 or U.S. Treasuries, or real estate – or they diversify broadly over a weighted cross-section of global stocks, bonds and real estate. Which strategy is more likely to produce better long-terms results? Which strategy is less risky? To investigate… Read more »

The famous Temple of Apollo at Delphi—an important source of prophetic wisdom for the ancient Greeks—is well known for the two inscriptions on its portal: Know Thyself Nothing in Excess As several world capital markets continue to flirt with record high asset price levels, it is worth revisiting Delphic wisdom in order to prepare for… Read more »

A comprehensive annotated bibliography on the topic of “Longevity Risk and Portfolio Sustainability” is now available. It is primarily intended to act as a reference source for scholars conducting research in this field.

A list of published articles on the topics of Asset Management, Trustee duties in portfolio design, monitoring and surveillance, Family Trust, Longevity Risk and Retirement Income Planning. A Risk Primer for Investment Fiduciaries (with special attention to the management of endowment funds) – Patrick J. Collins, Ph.D., CLU, CFA, California Trusts and Estates Quarterly… Read more »

A diversified portfolio owns securities from various markets – the bond market, the real estate market, and the stock market. Additionally, a diversified portfolio benefits from geographic diversification. This means that it typically owns both U.S. and foreign securities. By contrast, a “focused” portfolio owns only a few securities – often within just one market…. Read more »

Portfolio Analytics provides technical information on the portfolio model used in your Investment Policy Statement [IPS]. The model employs historical returns, variances and asset class correlations for the period January 1973 through the end the previous year. The model focuses on the economic consequences of the strategic asset allocation decision. It does not take into… Read more »

Since our inception, the core mission of Schultz Collins has been to help investors make rational, informed and intelligent investment decisions. Prudent decision making, however, requires a basic understanding of capital markets and a familiarity with evolving research in the field of Financial Economics. In 2006, we published Portfolio Management: Theory and Practice to summarize… Read more »

If you watch financial TV programs or read articles in the newspaper’s business section, you may notice an emphasis on “investment themes”. What investment themes will likely generate better portfolio returns? Will political themes outweigh economic themes? Will high corporate earnings boost investor sentiment; or, will high unemployment cast a dark shadow over investors? Investment… Read more »

Is professional financial advice harmful? This article reviews and evaluates the current state of the U.S. Financial Advisory Profession. It cites findings from academic and governmental regulatory agency sources indicating that the profession is rife with conflicts of interest, abusive practices, and even outright fraud. This is not a matter of “a few bad apples;”… Read more »

How can people make good investment decisions when they don’t know the difference between a stock and a bond? Many beginning investors are intimidated by the prospect of learning about economics and finance – subjects that, for many, are deadly dull – or of meeting with salespeople trying to push investment products and schemes, or… Read more »

Schultz Collins, Inc., is an SEC-registered investment advisory firm in San Francisco, with offices in Washington, DC and Towson, MD. People come to us looking for help with everything from simple IRA rollovers to retirement planning to large diversified portfolios. But the maze of investment advisors, money management experts, analysts, investment or wealth management services, investment managers, wealth management companies, asset management firms and trust companies is complex and bewildering. We cut through the confusion for clients in the San Francisco Bay Area – Marin, the East Bay, San Francisco, Peninsula, Silicon Valley – and all over the US. As independent investment counsel, Schultz Collins provides expert investment advisory services to individuals, companies and institutional investors. Our clients are attorneys, entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profits, trusts and endowments who want a simple solution for a complex problem: the prudent supervision of financial assets.

This website provides information on basic investment concepts. It is intended to facilitate prudent investment decision making. It is not intended as advice to or recommendations for any specific investor. It should not therefore be the sole factor of any investment decisions. In hosting this website, Schultz Collins is not acting as an investment advisor to any person, or in any sort of fiduciary capacity. Schultz Collins is an independent Registered Investment Advisor and Investment Counsel. Schultz Collins does not provide legal, accounting or tax advice. The information on the site is believed to be accurate, but Schultz Collins cannot verify that accuracy, as it is generally obtained from third party sources. Information may change after it first appears on the site; Schultz Collins assumes no duty to update it.